Rotary brush assembly



y 8, 1956 R. o. PETERSON 2,744,277

ROTARY BRUSH ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 7, 1952 INVENTOR. TUBE/V O. PETERSON A TT'oRA EKS United States Patent ROTARY BRUSH ASSEMBLY Ruben 0. Peterson, University Heights, (lhio, assignor to TheOsborn Manufacturing Company, Cieveland, 'rlhio, a corporation-of Ohio Application November 7, 1952, SerialNo. 319,273

4 Claims. (Cl. 181) This invention relates as indicated to a .novel brush assembly, and more particularly to a rotary brush comprising a plurality of annular sections assembled in sideby-side relationship.

Rotary brushes comprising sheet metal discs ,or hubs with a plurality of holes therethrough adjacent their outer peripheries through which brush bristle material .(ordinarily wire) is inserted, doubled, and twisted into tufts are well known in the art and are used extensively in such operations as the removal of scale from metal articles, and the removal of weld spatter and flux. Brushes of this general type are shown and described in Galvin Patent 1,493,670, Bickel et a1. Patent 2,062,047 and Peterson Patent No. 2,480,877. While two such brush elements have in the past sometimes been assembled together to form cup brushes, they have ordinarily been employed as single units with the twisted tufts of bristle material extending directly radially of the axis of rotation of the tool. No particular problem was accordingly encountered in mounting such sections upon an appropriate arbor or mandrel, the sides of such sections merely being secured between opposed clamping plates or the like with an end nut threaded on the arbor to alford the requisite clamping pressure.

With the development of new brush materials and increased appreciation of the value of this type of tool for certain large-scale operations, a demand has arisen for brushing tools having relatively wide work-engaging faces, and the obvious manner of obtaining such effect is, of course, simply to assemble a plurality of the brush units in close sidc-by-side arrangement on the arbor or mandrel. in practice, however, this form of brush construction has proven unsatisfactory, principally because of the fact that despite the application of heavy clamping pressure on the end sections relative rotation of intermediate sections would take place inuse. There is also a demand for a generally cylindrical brush of this type which could be purchased and handled as a unit without requiring to be assembled on the job. The usual means employed in the past forsecuring a plurality of other types of brush sections together to for-m a cylindrical brush also proved unsatisfactory, however, since most of such methods either did not form a 'sufliciently strong and rigid mounting for brushes intended for the hard usage encountered in operations where twisted tuft brushes are desired or else involved an excessive amount of Welding which was not only expensive but also was detrimental in its effect on tempered wire brush material. Another source of difficulty resides in the fact that the twisted tufts of brush material present a relatively wide face, considerably wider than the thickness of the sheet metal disc to which they are secured, and therefore tend to space such discs apart, this being an elfect not obtained when other types of brush sections formed of circularized brush strip, for example, are employed. The brush material not only tends to space apart the several disc members comprising the assembly but at the same. time fails sufiiciently to interlock the several elements of the assem- .7 2,744,277 l 'ateiited May 8., 1956 2 bly to prevent relative rotation of the same'wlren'engaging the work in use.

.Itiis accordingly a principal object "of the present'invention to provide :a novel rotary Pbrush assemblycornprising a plurality of :annular disc :members having twisted tu fts of brush material secured rthereto and extending generally radially therefrom- Another object :is to provide such brush assembly which will "be in the form *of 'a single unit ready to be mounted upon an arbor and-placed in use.

Still another object 'is to provide :such brush assembly which will be relatively inexpensive of manufacture and in which the component parts will m'aintain -their predetermined relationship without relative rotation or such components or relative axial shifting 0f the same in use.

A :further'object is to provi'de such brush assembly in which the driving torque will be transmitted without slipping from the arbor :or shaft through the mounting means .to the "brush material.

Other objects of this invention will appear as the description proceeds. I

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said :in'vention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodi= merits of the invention, these being =indicative, however, of but afew of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be'employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. -1 is anelevational view :of a rotary brush assembly embodying the principles of my invention, partly broken away better to disclose the inner construction of the same;

Fig. ,2 is a transverse sectional viewtaken on the line 2-2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transtverse sectional view generally similar to Fig. 2 but showing the inclusion of an additional brush element to afford a wider effective brush face;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of an end plate adapted to comprise a portion of my new brushing tool;

Fig. 5 illustrates :one preferred form of disc to which the twisted :tufts of brush material may be secured; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a preferred form of inner 'hub member adapted to be employed in conjunction therewith.

Now referring more particularly to said drawing, one embodiment 'of my invention there illustrated comprises a pair of annular discs 1 and '2 having holes 3 through which tufts of wire bristle material 4 are inserted and twisted upon themselves with such tufts extending generally radially from such discs :1 and 2. Each of such discs 1 :and 2 has a similar face plate 5 and 6 spot welded thereto as at 7, such face plates having circumferential outwardly offset portions 8 and 9 adapted to embrace and support the doubled innerends of the twister tufts 4. The inner peripheral portions 10 and 11 of discs 1 and '2 respectively are offset toward each other to space the two discs the desired distance apart, and they may desirably be shaped to define a non-circular central opening which maybe hexagonal, for example. A Ltubularcoremember of the general configuration of member 12 (Fig. 6) is tightly fitted within the central opening thus defined, such member having a corresponding outer configuration, and the cylindrical extensions 13 and 14 thereof are thereupon flanged radially outwardly to interengage and grip the inturned inner peripheral edge portions of face plates 5 and 6. As shown in Fig. 2, the ends of such inner core member 12 should not protrude axially beyond the flat outer faces of face plates 5 and 6. Such inner core memher thus serves the hinction of securing the assembly together and preventing relative rotation of the parts, but

clamping plates and nuts, for example, which may engage the assembly when it is mounted on an arbor will then engage such face plates and drive the assembly therethrough rather than engaging such inner core member to transfer driving torque therethrough.

Now referring more particularly to Figs. 3 and 5 of the drawing, the axial length of my new rotary brush may be increased by the interposition of one or more discs 15 between the end discs 1 and 2. Such discs 15 are provided with a plurality of circumferentially arranged holes 16 adjacent their outer perimeters through which tufts of brush material 4 are adapted to be passed and the ends twisted together in the same manner as the tufts secured to discs 1 and 2. The inner periphery 17 of disc 15 may be of hexagonal shape to fit snugly over tubular core member 12 as shown in Fig. 3, with washers 18 and 19 being interposed between disc 15 and the end discs 1 and 2. Such washers serve to space the discs apart so as to provide a brush face of proper density and uniformity without having to rely upon interengagement of the tufts of adjacent discs uniformly to space the latter.

The brush of my invention may be mounted upon the mandrel or arbor 20 of a brushing lathe, for example, being secured thereon by nuts 21 and 22 with clamping plates or discs 23 and 24 engaging the flat annular lands of the outer faces of end plates 5 and 6. The brush is thus driven through engagement of plates 23 and 24 with such end plates 5 and 6 and not merely through engagement of the arbor with core member 12. Considerably less strain is placed upon the brush structure in this manner and it is for this reason that it is preferred that the ends 13 and 14 of core member 12 should not project axially beyond the fiat faces of end plates 5 and 6.

When relatively large diameter brushes constructed in accordance with my invention are employed, it will however often be feasible and satisfactory to drive the same through interengaging keys and keyways in the arbor and brush core member. Likewise, instead of forming core member 12 with an external contour adapted to interlock with the several brush disc members, such disc members may be welded to the core. I prefer, however, to employ a minimum of welding in the construction of the smaller sizes of brushes since such welding operation is relatively expensive and the heat generated may damage the wire brush material unless considerable care is exercised.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a brush comprising a plurality of bristle carrying portions or sections having central hub portions with non-circular holes therein engaging a core member having a centrally placed round hole axially therethrough and an outer surface conformation corresponding in shape to such non-circular holes, such bristle-carrying members and core member being interfitted and joined together to secure the bristlecarrying portions in an aligned series as a single brush unit with angular and axial movement of the same relative to the core member being prevented. Brushes of the type defined are relatively inexpensive of manufacture but are long wearing in use. They present a cylindrical work-engaging surface which is uniform in appearance and brushing action and maintains such uniformity throughout the useful life of the brush since the parts to which the twisted tufts are secured are incapable of relative movement.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A rotary brush assembly comprising a tubular core member having a cylindrical bore, a plurality of flat lands on its outer surface, and thinner walled cylindrical end portions; a circular sheet metal disc having a central opening shaped to conform to said lands and fitted thereon, a plurality of holes through the outer peripheral portion of said disc arranged circumferentially thereof, twisted tufts of wire brush material inserted through said holes and extending radially of said disc, and spacer washers on said core on each side of said disc; another sheet metal disc engaging each said washer, said latter discs being similar to said first-named disc and having wire brush material similarly secured thereto, but said latter discs also having their inner peripheral edges flanged toward said washers to engage the latter, such inner peripheral edges being shaped to conform to said lands on said core member and fitted thereon; and annular sheet metal end plates spotwelded to the respective outer faces of said latter discs, said end plates having fiat faces and outwardly bulged circumferential portions adapted to engage and support the inner doubled portions of adjacent wire tufts, and said thinner walled cylindrical end sections of said core member being upset to engage the inner peripheries of said end plates to secure the entire assembly together as a unit, said upset portions extending axially of the assembly a distance less than the outer flat faces of said end plates.

2. A rotary brush assembly comprising a tubular core member having a non-circular outer surface, a plurality of annular sheet metal discs mounted thereon having twisted tufts of wire bristle material having inner doubled portions secured to their outer peripheries with said tufts extending generally radially therefrom, the endmost said discs having their inner peripheral edge portions laterally offset toward each other and shaped to conform to the noncircular contour of said core member on which they are seated, thereby locking said core member and discs together for rotation as a unit; and annular sheet metal end plates welded to the outer sides of said endmost discs, said end plates having fiat faces and outwardly bulged circumferential portions adapted to engage and support the inner doubled portions of adjacent wire tufts, the ends of said tubular core member being upset to engage said end plates to secure the assembly together, but with such upset ends of said core member lying behind the planes defined by the outer faces of said respective end plates.

3. A rotary brush assembly comprising a tubular core member having a non-circular outer surface, a plurality of annular sheet metal discs mounted thereon having twisted tufts of wire bristle material having inner doubled portions secured to their outer peripheries with said tuffs extending generally radially therefrom, the endmost said discs having their inner peripheral edge portions laterally offset toward each other and shaped to conform to the non-circular contour of said core member on which they are seated, thereby locking said core member and discs together for rotation as a unit; and annular sheet metal end plates welded to the outer sides of said endmost discs, said end plates having flat faces and outwardly bulged circumferential portions adapted to engage and support the inner doubled portions of adjacent wire tufts, the inner peripheral edges of said plates likewise being laterally otfset following the contours of said discs to which they are secured and shaped to conform to the non-circular contour of said core member, the ends of said tubular core member being upset to engage said inner peripheral edge portions of said end plates where thus offset to secure the assembly together, but with such upset ends of said corc member lying behind the planes defined by the outer faces of said respective end plates.

4. A rotary brush assembly comprising a tubular core member having a non-circular outer surface, a plurality of annular sheet metal discs mounted thereon having brush material tul'fs secured thereto and extending therefrom, the endmost said discs having their inner peripheral edge portions laterally offset toward each other and shaped to conform to the non-circular contour of said core member on which they are seated, thereby locking said core member and discs together for rotation as a unit; and annular sheet metal end plates welded to the outer sides of said endmost discs, said end plates having flat faces and outwardly bulged circumferential portions adapted to engage and support the inner portions of adjacent tufts, the

' ends of said tubular core member being secured to said References Cited in'the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dixon Aug. 20, 1907 Galvin May 13, 1924 10 Turner Aug. 18, 1931 Wesemeyer May 23, 1944 Peterson Sept. 6, 1949 Wilhide Dec. 19, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 26, 1924 

